Happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break with family and friends and are ready to get back to Maximizing Possibility in your organization and professional life. Even with the short holiday week there were still plenty of great blogs to choose from for this week's Fab Five. Below are my picks for the best HR, talent management, and leadership blog posts from the week of November 22nd - 28th, 2010. Enjoy!
Steve Roesler, All Things Workplace: I'll Change: Tell Me Exactly What You Want - You don't need me to tell you that organizational change is hard. For many leaders the most frustrating part of change initiatives is getting everyone excited about the desired changes, securing the necessary buy-in, and then seeing little in the way of actual behavioral change. If your team is willing to embrace change, but can't seem to get over the hump, Steve suggests outlining specific behavioral changes that need to happen in order to realize the broader vision of a proposed cultural transformation.
Gautam Ghosh, Designing HR for Organizations 2.0: Cleaving HR Into 3 Parts - You hear and read a lot these days from progressive HR pros calling to shake things up in the human resources function in an effort to make it a more strategically relevant and secure that much coveted seat at the table. However, few actually support their rallying cries with a vision of what a revamped HR department should look like. Gautam is not your typical HR pro and shares his vision for the future of HR with a call for it to be divided into three distinct parts that may surprise you.
Cathy Missildine-Martin, Profitability Through Human Capital: Statistics for HR...Correlation, Regression, OH MY! - Statistics: love them or hate them, they are critical for success in human resource management. If you fall on the "hate them" side of the fence (like so many of us do), Cathy has identified two statistical methods that are particularly important to today's HR professional and offers up some suggestions for procuring these critical skills.
Krista Ogburn Francis, Alive HR: Repairing a Bad Day - Have you ever received an email or phone call delivering particularly unpleasant news? We all have... How did you react? Krista recently received one such email that few would blame for letting it ruin her day. However, she reacted in a much different way and shares how she was able to maintain a positive attitude and stop an unsettling email from ruining her day and bringing down those around her.
David Zinger Employee Engagement: 5 Employee Engagement Myths - Myths abound when it comes to employee engagement and there are enough "must-dos", "can't-dos", "deadly sins", and war stories circulating to make one's head spin. David brings some much needed clarification to five common employee engagement myths.
Happy Black Friday! I hope you and your loved ones had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Each Friday I like to shine the spotlight on a resource that I feel will help your efforts to Maxmize Possibility in your organization and professional life. Today I have a great up and coming HR blog I recently discovered that I think you will really enjoy.
The Resource:pDailyHRTips.com
What It Covers:Daily HR Tips is a blog started by and featuring the father-son team of Ben Nash and Dr. Kevin Nash. Together they serve up tips for maximizing the value of the human resources function in an organization with blog posts and news articles on topics such as organizational development, change management, talent management, employee training, career development, and other areas of interest for today's human resources professional. Content from Daily HR Tips comes in a variety of formats including news articles, editorial blog posts, and YouTube video posts.
Why You Should Check It Out:One thing I find particularly impressive about this blog is the frequency with which it posts fresh content. You cannot name your blog "Daily HR Tips" if you do not plan on being an active blog site and Ben and Kevin are definitely up to the challenge. Whether it is a blog post, HR news story, or informative video, you are sure to find something fresh and new at Daily HR Tips.
I am also a big fan of the emphasis Ben and Kevin have made in making their blog a place for HR professionals to interact and share their thoughts, knowledge, opinions, and expertise. There are numerous opportunities to get involved through blog comments and interactive polls as well as an active presence on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn that leaves no shortage of ways to reach out and communicate with others who share similar professional interests and passions.
Another cool thing about Daily HR Tips that I have not seen before in the HR blogging community is that it is a father-son project which provides apgreat blend of professional expertise and youthful energy.
You will also find Daily HR Tips to be a great place for motivation in the form of its "Quote of the Day" which features an inspirational quote from business leaders, historical icons, and others who provide a daily dose of food for thought.
I highly encourage you to visit DailyHRTips.com for yourself and check out all that it has to offer. And when you visit, be sure to sign up for their Daily HR Tip newsletter and you will receive a free E-Book with their top 10 HR tips for 2010.
Now go Maximize Possibility!
I like to start off each week by featuring five posts from the HR, talent management, and leadership development blogosphere that I found to be particularly good reading. Here are my picks for the week of November 15 - 21st, 2010. Enjoy!
Dan McCarthy, Great Leadership: Do's and Don'ts for Having a 360 Degree Assessment Development Discussion - There is little argument that 360 degree assessments are a powerful tool for leadership development. Unfortunately, this great tool is rarely used to its full potential once the feedback is tallied and the results are in. Dan suggests holding a developmental discussion between the recipient of the feedback and their manager to make better use of this data and has a great lists of "do's and don'ts" for each party during this important discussion.
Michael McKinney, Leadership Now: Do You Have Leadership Lock-In? - As humans it is easy to get locked into a routine of actions and behaviors that are familiar and comfortable for us. However, when it comes to leading others in the workplace, this can become a very dangerous thing. Michael calls this "leadership lock-in" and explains why it can be so damaging to a leader's effectiveness and offers some tips for avoiding or correcting leadership lock-in.
Lisa Haneberg, Management Craft: Your Dragon Within - Dragons have a long and storied history in eastern culture and are viewed by many with great reverence. Lisa feels dragons also provide a great metaphor for personal leadership and encourages you to release your leadership dragon from within.
Tom Peters! Little Big Things Series: #19 Equations - For many of us this is the time of year for planning, budgeting, and setting business strategies for 2011. And, generally speaking, this does not create a lot of problems. It is the implementation of these strategies that always seems to pose the biggest challenge. Ever the engineer at heart, Tom has come up with a series of "equations" to follow that will help implement these strategies regardless of what industry or line of business you work in.
Tim Sanders, Sanders Says: Should You Make Friends at Work? - There are a lot of differing opinions when it comes to mixing business and personal relationships. Some feel there should be a distinct line drawn between the two, while others seem to relish the opportunities to make friends with co-workers and colleagues and have no problem balancing these differing relationships in the workplace. It should come as little surprise that a "Lovecat" like Tim Sanders feels friendships at work can provide great benefits to one's performance at work and offers up some ideas for making your personal and professional relationships exist in harmony.
Each Friday I like to share a resource I have found beneficial in my own professional life that I feel can also help in your quest to Maximize Possibility. Today I have an exciting resource to feature that brings together an impressive collection of some of the best bloggers in the HR, talent management, and leadership development community: The Human Capital League. Enjoy!
The Resource: The Human Capital League
What It Is: The Human Capital League is a relatively new online community for HR and talent management professionals that syndicates posts from an impressive collection of the profession's top bloggers. HCL hosts posts from many of my favorite bloggers such as Jon Ingham, Dan McCarthy, Gautam Ghosh, Sharlyn Lauby, Steve Roesler, and over 50 others who share their thoughts on a variety of management topics including leadership, recruiting, coaching and mentoring, training and development, and performance management to name a few.
Why You Should Check It Out: I have come across few if any places online that are host to such an amazing collection of HR and talent management blog posts in one place. The list of thought leaders who contribute to the site by syndicating posts from their blog is simply phenomenal.
You might think of the HCL as a one stop shop for your management blog reading needs. Posts are categorized by topic to make it easy to find reading material pertinent to your functional line of work, or if you like to follow what is happening in all areas of the profession you can follow the "Top Posts" to keep track of the hot topics of the day.
As I mentioned previously, the HCL hosts post from many of my favorite bloggers that I follow regularly. However, it is also a superb place to find new bloggers who may not be on your radar. With over 50 writers contributing to the site you are sure to find some new faces to follow or add to your RSS reader.
Lastly the HCL is a great place to find breaking news about the HR and talent management profession. With a feed of news stories coming from the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment you can keep up to date on important developments that impact the workplace.
If you are passionate about HR and talent management I am confident you will find the Human Capital League to be a great resource for professional development. Head over and check it out today!
Wow, it sure was a great week for reading HR, talent management, and leadership development blogs! As a service to you I have narrowed down this collection of reading material to highlight five blog posts from the week of November 8th - November 14th, 2010 that I found to be especially good reading. Enjoy!
Suzanne Lucas, Evil HR Lady: Google's 10% Raises: We Don't Care About Our Employees - Without a doubt, the hot story in the HR and talent management blogging world this week was Google's announcement that it is issuing 10% raises across the board to all employees. I especially enjoyed Suzanne's take on this topic as she points out that, while no one in their right mind would turn down a 10% salary increase, Google's efforts at reducing turnover are likely to have little impact and go to show how little Google cares about rewarding the performance of its top performing employees.
Lance Huan, TLNT: Stop Empowering Employees With a False Sense of Control - Ever since its rise to buzzword status, most managers are quick to agree that employee empowerment is valued and encouraged within their team or organization. However, when it comes down to actually abdicating control to employees below them, many fail to live up to their own rhetoric. Even worse, some go so far as giving employees the illusion of empowerment when in reality they have no control over a their situation. Lance makes a call for managers to stop empowering employees with a false sense of control.
Alexander Kjerulf, Chief Happiness Officer: How to Treat New Employees - There are few things more nerve-racking for an employee than their first day on the job and their experience during this anxiety-ridden day can have a major impact on their future with the organization. Alex has four tips on how to treat new employees to your organization that will get them started off on the right foot.
Business Pundit: What Makes a Happy Business Anyway? - In the business press we hear a lot about the importance of employee happiness (see Alexander's blog above for great coverage on that topic) and of course customer happiness. But what about the happiness of the business itself. Stephen at the Business Pundit blog takes a look at what makes for a happy business and how that translates into happy employees, happy customers, and ultimately a healthier bottom line.
Eric Davis, I4CP: Performance Management: Not Everybody's a Superstar - Eric reports on a recent I4CP survey that reveals managers and employees in most organizations (even high performing ones) feel their performance management system is ineffective in encouraging the kind of behaviors that lead to sustained organizational success. In particular Eric is interested in how to most effectively manage and reward employees who are not labeled as superstars, but nonetheless play a critical role in the company's success.
Happy Friday - I hope you have had a wonderful week so far! Each Friday I like to share a resource that I feel can help you and your organization to Maximize Possibility. Today I am excited to highlight a resource that features one of my all time favorite business leaders: Jack Welch. Enjoy!
The Resource: It's Everybody's Business with Jack and Suzy Welch
What It Is: It's Everybody's Business is a MSN web series featuring Jack and Suzy Welch as they work with large national companies to tackle pressing and high-stakes business challenges. Based on Jack's now famous Work-Out methodology developed during his tenure at GE, he and Suzy bring key players within the organization together to flesh out the issue at hand and arrive at the best decision possible.
The show is a beautiful blend of reality television and business case study that gives you a front row seat as Jack and Suzy guide executive teams to solutions to the challenges they are facing. The issues they tackle are highly strategic, timely, and can have a huge impact on the organization's financial success.
Why You Should Check It Out: Anybody who follows my blog or subscribes to my newsletter knows that I am a huge fan of Jack Welch, his relentless pursuit of performance excellence, and the high level of candor and forthrightness that he leads with. While reading his books and articles provides great insight into the mind of this famed business leader, watching Jack Welch in action brings things to a whole new level. It's Everybody's Business allows you to act as a fly on the wall and witness one of the greatest minds in business at work.
Let us not forget Suzy Welch either. As the former editor of the Harvard Business Review she brings years of business experience to the table and has a keen eye for hidden problems keeping organizations from reaching their potential. Together the two make up a powerful team to guide corporate executives in reaching solutions to the challenges they face.
Another thing that is really great about this web series is the high level of interaction it affords. Viewers can leave comments, answer polling questions during the show, and even discuss with others via social media tools such as Twitter.
If you want to see how high-stakes decisions are made in large corporate boardrooms, this is the show for you. I am confident you will find it entertaining, and more importantly you will find it to be a great learning tool to improve the way you make important decisions within your organization. Head over and check it out today!
Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend and are energized for a promising week of Maximizing Possibility in your organization! I like to start off each week by highlighting five posts from the HR, talent management, and leadership development blogosphere that I found to be especially good reading during the past week. Below are my picks for November 1 - 7, 2010. Enjoy!
Laura Schroeder, Working Girl: More on Leadership and Stinky Fish - Two weeks ago I featured an article by Suzanne Rumsey at Fistful of Talent where she examined several bad behaviors that executives display that are organizational culture killers. Laura has some great thoughts reflecting on Suzanne's post where she takes a look at the role of persuasion versus coercion in leadership.
Mary Jo Asmus, Aspire Leadership Solutions: Great Leadership: a Lot of This and That - Greatness in a discipline rarely if ever comes down to excellence in one skill or ability. Leadership is no exception and requires a wide set of skills and behaviors that at times can seem to be in contradiction to each other. Mary Jo suggests one of the keys to effective leadership is knowing how and when to blend these contrasting behaviors and explores how they can live in concert with each other.
Heather Stagl, Enclaria: Change Management's Missing Piece - Chances are you don't need me to tell you that organizational change efforts are difficult. In fact, some estimate that two-thirds of change initiatives fail to achieve their desired outcomes. Heather thinks she has found the missing piece to these failed change efforts and feels that personal influence is the key factor in whether or not a change initiative will be successful in achieving its stated expectations. Check out this great post to find out why.
Jennifer Miller, The People Equation: Leaders Help People Connect the Dots - As humans we have evolved to be a conclusion drawing species. In general we have a disdain for ambiguity and strive to "connect the dots" in most situations and provide our brains with a feeling of closure to overcome this ambiguity. This can create a real problem when it comes to rumors and asymmetric information in the workplace. Jennifer explains how great leaders help their people connect the dots and work through ambiguity in the workplace.
Nick McCormick, Joe and Wanda on Management: Live Your Deepest Values at Work - Be sure to check out the latest installment of Nick McCormick's Management Tip podcast series where he and Stan Slap discuss the importance of employees living their deepest values at work in order to achieve high levels of performance.
Each week I like to share a resource that I feel can help you to Maximize Possibility in your organization and your professional life. Today I would like to highlight a great weekly reading resource from the folks at Monster.com. Enjoy!
The Resource: Monster Thinking's 5 for Friday
What It Is: 5 for Friday is a weekly installment at Monster.com's Monster Thinking blog. Much like myRainmaker 'Fab Five' blog picks of the week that is published every Monday, 5 for Friday highlights five posts from the career and recruiting blogosphere that the folks at Monster Thinking found to be especially good reading over the past week. Each selected blog post is accompanied by short descriptions of the post and why it is worth reading.
Why You Should Check It Out: I must admit that I am a real fan of blog lists and "top 5" style posts as it is always interesting to see what other business professionals and bloggers are reading and find worth sharing. One of the great things of blogging is that anyone can do it. However, not all bloggers are created equally and "top 5" posts like those found at Monster Thinking are a great way to cull through the thousands of HR, talent management, and recruiting posts that published each week to find articles that are worth taking the time to read.
As one of the big players in the online job search and recruiting game, Monster.com has a unique perspective that I feel is important to take note of. The folks at Monster Thinking are in the trenches of the recruiting and career industry and are highly in tune with what is happening in the employment market. The posts they select each Friday are a good indication of what is relevant and newsworthy from the industry and provide a great way to keep tabs on recruiting and career trends for those who are not involved in those fields on a daily basis but recognize the importance of seeing the whole picture within the human resources profession.
Another thing I really love about installments like 5 for Friday is that they are an excellent way to find new blogs to read and follow. I have discovered several "must-read" blogs from Monster Thinking's 5 for Friday and am confident you will too.
I encourage you to head over and check out past editions of Monster Thinking's 5 for Friday to see what it is all about and to tune in each week for another great round of blog picks. Also, while you are there be sure to check out all the other great stuff that Monster Thinking has to offer as they provide really great coverage of the recruiting and employment/careers industry!
I like to start off each week by featuring five posts from the HR, talent management, and leadership development blogosphere that I found to be particularly good reading. Here are my picks for the week of October 25th - 31th, 2010. Enjoy!
Michael Haberman, HR Observations: "Hire Attitude vs. Aptitude": A Lesson From Disney - Southwest Airlines is famously known for having a talent management philosophy of "hire for attitude, train for skill". Disney - another consistently high performing organization - shares that same philosophy towards employee selection. Michael recently attended the Business Growth Expo where Jack Santiago of Disney shed some light on their approach to people management and shares the key points he took away from Jack's presentation.
Trish McFarlane, HR Ringleader: 5 Ways to Influence a Culture of Engagement - Employee engagement has become such a hot topic in recent years that I suspect that any manager or HR pro worth his or her salt is aware of its importance and is receptive to any suggestions for improving the engagement level within their team, department, or organization. Furthermore, I would bet that any manager that has tried to improve engagement (especially via force or mandate) would be quick to admit that increasing employee engagement is often easier said than done. Trish offers up five ways you can influence your organization's culture to encourage higher levels of employee engagement.
Wayne Turmel, Cranky Middle Manager: The Cranky Middle Manager Show #258 Ruthless Focus with Wally Bock - Wally Bock - one of my "must-read" leadership bloggers - stops by the Cranky Middle Manager Show for an interview with Wayne Turmel where they discuss Wally's latest book Ruthless Focus. Don't miss this great podcast where Wally and Wayne talk about ways to keep your team focused on key business objectives.
Namita Panigrahi, TalentedApps: Do You Challenge Your High Performers - Managers love their high performing employees. And for good reason as they produce high quality work, take ownership over problems and opportunities, and don't cause the headaches and frustrations that low performers often do. The biggest challenge high performers present for many managers is coming up with ways to keep them motivated and engaged in their work. Namita reminds us of the importance of providing challenging work assignments as a way to motivate and engage your top performers.
Ajaero Tony Martins, Young Entrepreneur: 7 Traits of Highly Successful Salespeople - Those of you who read my blog on a regular basis or subscribe to my newsletter know that I have a real passion for improving the performance of an organization's sales force. You probably also know that I have a passion for entrepreneurship and working with start-up companies. That said, how could I resist featuring this post by Ajaero on the Young Entrepreneur blog where he highlights seven traits common to highly successful salespeople.
